Planning

So, long time no post. I'll get around to re-doing the layout eventually, but how do you like the background? Too much? Too busy? Let me know. Anywho, before I get to the main point of the post, I want to give you a little bit of my debate background. Trust me, I'm going somewhere with this.

When I first entered debate, i wasn't really sure what to expect. Two people argueing is what tends to spring to mind when the word is mentioned. Rarely thought about are the hours of fore-planning, practicing, speaking drills, case writing, logical fallacies, resolutions, and research, to name a few things. Three years of debate drilled into my mind the importance of doing research, keeping from being fallacious, and planning for all possible turns of an arguement. While I am guilty of not excercising any of this when it comes to blogging, I plan on making it a point of finding a designated time to blog. Promise.

Now, aside from letting you know that I will make it a point to blog from now on by planning a time for it, I have something else I want to say. You might have guessed, but I'm talking about digging into your bible. It takes work! And if you don't plan a time to study it, odds are you'll read it as often as I blogged. You've got to plan a time, even if it is only a few moments here and there. Read it during lunch (just be careful not to drop food on your pages), before breakfast, or before bed. Whenever works for you, do it.

Next, if all you do is plan to read and then amble about your pages, you won't get much out of your time. You need to find something in the text that you read that can be applied to your life. If you have trouble with this, pick up a devotional book. Maybe even a study bible. A journal to write your thoughts on the verses. Whatever will make the time that you spend reading your bible more productive, make sure you do your best to try and have/do that thing.

Finally, you've got to make sure you have a translation of the bible that is both true to the original text as well as easy to understand. A long time favourite of mine is the New American Standard (NAS), but lately I've taken quite a shine to the English Standard Version (ESV). Without a translation that you can understand, you'll have quite a hard time discerning what the text is conveying. The concept isn't new. Ever struggled reading old English? Yeah. That's what reading the KJV is like. Not impossible, but not exactly easy either. And hey, even in the newer translations there are words you won't know the definitions of. Don't just skim over them, look them up! Not only will it give you a better chance of learning what the text means, you'll grow your vocabulary. Huzzah.

I know I already said finally, but I'm adding another point to this. And that point is that at some point, you'll get stuck. Have no clue what a passage means. That's fine! Pastors don't only exist during services or youth group. I'm sure they'd love to help you understand a passage you're having trouble understanding.

And so, at last, I am done writing. I hope you take something away from this, and while I didn't recite a memorable story quite like my friend Chris does over at his blog, I hope you'll remember what I said. And hey, maybe next time I'll even have a story for you.

Join me in planning, won't you?